Process of treating hydrocarbon oils.



' and an equal CHARLES H. WASHEURN, 0F

sir. LOUIS, MISSOURI, AssIenon, BY mnsnn ASSIGNMENTS,

FFE@.

TO NEW PROCESS OIL COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OFMIN- NESOTA.

PROCESS OF TREATING HYDROCARBON' OIIVJS- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. WASH- BURN, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Treating Hydrocarbon Oils, of which I the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this description. I p

My invention relates to a process of treating. kerosene and the heavier petroleum products in such manner as to produce a product'which has a higher flash point than gasolene, is heavier than gasolene or naphtha, and which, being derived from kerosene and the heavier petroleum products after the distillation of gasolene and naphtha, is much less expensive than gasolene and naphtha.

The ob ect of my invention is to produce that, being less exa hydrocarbon product plosive than gasolene, nature, is suitable for many instances where asolene and naphtha are now utilized, an in other instances where the use'of such gasolene and naphtha has been largely discontinued owing to the danger in using them.

It is a fact well known to oil refiners that, when petroleum fuel oil or gas oil is cracked to produce light products, the light products produced have an exceedingly ofi'ensive odor that unfits them for general use, and no method has heretofore been found, so far as i am aware, to crack such oils to a kerosene product ranging from 40 .to 48 Baum and not from large quantities of the light hydrocarbons, gasolene and naphtha, all having more or less offensive odors. I have discovered that when kerosene, or heavier petroleum fuel or gas oils are and then heated in a. suitable retort, and back pressure is maintained in said and of inex ensive use with sa'ety 1n pressure maintained upon. the vapors themselves during the process of condensation, both in the retortand in denser, I am enabled to obtain a product free from the ofl'ensiveodors of the initial products, and suitable for use in lieu more expensive light products, 'Suchiprod uct is, furthermore, produced without the formation of large quantities of li-ght-hydro.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 24, 1913.

retort when treating be" burned tents.

mixed with water retort,

the icon of the I, Patented May a, 1915. Serial No. 756,433.

carbons, known.

In practising my process, drocarbon oil and Water in suitable proportions into a retortheated in any suitable manner to the desired temperature; for example, say, 600 F. to 800- F within the petroleum gas oil alone; and, for example, in treating kero sene, from 800 F. to 950-F., within the retort maintaining at, the same time, in the retort and against the resulting vapors and condensed products, a'pressure of three to five atmospheres. The proportional quantities of oil and water depend upon the inas in most processes heretofore I introduce hyitial product, and may be easily determined in practice from the product derived by following my process. When using petroleum gas oil or fuel oil while following my process, 1 preferably usefour parts of oil to one part of water; and, when kerosene is used, I preferably use at least equal parts of kerosene and water, in which connection I would state that the lower the proportion of water, all things considered, the easier the oil will crack. Therefore inasmuch as itis necessary to crack gas oil to a greater degree than kerosene in producing my prodnot, I use a less proportion of water with gas oil and crack the oil to substantially the same point as kerosene is cracked to with a greater proportion of water, as specified.

y process is preferablycarried out in an apparatus such as that illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which is a diagrammatica-l view of the apparatus.

B designates a retort, and A a furnace in which fuel of any suitable description may to heat the retort and its con- The retort B is preferably arranged in inclined osition-in the furnace so that itsinlet en is highest. An inlet pipe Q leads intov the forward end of the retort B.

D and E, designate, leum oil and water conducting pipes c onnected-to the inlet pipe C, the pipes being preferably provided with check valves F, which prevent back flow of the 011 and water, and with cut 0E valves G, by which the now ofoil and water may be discontinlled'. ,7

H and I design'ate,,,-respect1vely, storage anks for oil and water'supphed to the. pipes respectively, petro- I D and E, these tanks being preferably located at a higher level than the retort. B. The supply ofoil and water in the storage tanks is maintained by delivery pipes 71. and 2' leading to the respective tanks, the pipes being ,provided with cut off valves h and a". T p I J is a'steain conducting. pipe, through which steam under pressure may be delivered to the oil and water tanks H and T to exert a pressure against the contents of said tanks, and cause the oil and water therein to be delivered under the desired pressure through the pipes D and E and the inlet pipe 0 to the retort B. The pipe J is supplied with a out 01f valve 3' and a pressure gage y". I I

A pressure gage K is connected to the oil and water conducting members at the location of the inlet pipe C to indicate the pres sureexerted upon the oil and Water delivered to the retort.

L designates a condenser coil that is subjected to the cooling action ofwater discharged thereonto from a sprinkler pipe M located over the coil. v

Communication between the outlet end of the retort B and the condenser coil is established by a connecting pipe N, through which the product produced in carrying out my process is delivered to the condenser to'be condensed and discharged through the terminal ofthe coil into a suitable closed receiver O, supplied with an air or gas relief valve 0. The pipe N is preferably supplied with a cut oil valve P. I also preferably provide a ressure age R that indicates the pressure 0 the product passing through the pipe N when the apparatus is in service, and a safety valve S that will open when there is excess of pressure in the retort B.

In the practical use of the apparatus herein described to carry out my process, petro-.

leum oil and water in theproper proportions, as specified, and under a pressure, as

previously indicated, are delivered through the inlet pipe G into the retort B. The retort and its contents are heated to thedesired temperature, according to the nature of the petroleum product. being treated, as I have previously noted, under a pressure, as previously stated, of from three to five atmos'pheres. With these points in min'dyand the fact also being considered that the condenser is kept closed at its terminal, as stated, it will be understood that vaporization of the kerosene, or heavier petroleum product occurs, condenser-coil L, where they are condensed and confined. The terminal of the condenser, being closed, there is resultant accumulation of vapors adjacent said terminal,

a back pressure is created and maintained in.

the condenser and also in the retort, in con sequence of which and the pressure exerted a are created in volumes of pressure, retort, pass from the retort to the condenser,

the vapors passing to the The existence of the back pressure, as

stated, will be morefully understood when it is explained that three volumes of pressure the retort of an apparatus used for the production of my product, one

of these volumes of pressure being obtained 1 from the conversion of water into vapor, and the other two volumes of pressure being obtained from thebreaking up of the petroleum product under treatment. These three when produced in the and, upon reaching the terminal of the condenser, accumulate thereat, with the result of afiording the back pressure to which I have referred; a

I am aware that it is old to use oil and water together in heated retorts to derive gasolene or other light hydrocarbons, and that hydrocarbon oil has been heated under pressure of 3 to 5 atmospheres to obtain gasolene and other light hydrocarbons, but I believe it to be new with me to follow a process in which hydrocarbon oil and water areused together in a heated retort, with the resulting vapors in the retort and the condenser maintained under a pressure for 'the purpose of obtaining a petroleum proding operation and the addition of the neutral medium with the pressure and temperature obviates destructive distillation. One of the most important features of the present process isthe pressure' created due to the terminal of the condenser being closed, owing to which'the desired pressure is maintained in both the-retort and the condenser. In this connection it is to be noted that the receiver 0 is considered as the terminal of the condenser in the apparatus shown.

- There-is no escape from this receiver while the apparatus is in operation, the receiver beinlg1 supplied with only a gas relief valve 0, w ich opens for safety purposes only.

I claim 1'. The process of treating kerosene and heavier products of petroleum, which consists in placing the petroleum product and water into a retort, converting-them into vapor, and leading oif the vapor to a condenser, the terminal'of which is closed to create a back pressure against the vapor,

thereby condensing the vapor under a pressure of from three to five atmospheres maintained in both the retort and the condenser.

Mid

2. The heavier sists in introducing the petroleum product and water into a retort under pressure, converting the product and Water into vapor, and leading ofl the vapor t a condenser, the terminal of which is closer? to create a back pressure against the vapor, thereby condensing the vapor under a pressure of from three process of treating kerosene and to five atmospheres maintained in both the retort and the condenser.

3. The process of transforming petroleum oils of a Baum of 26 to 48 into a product of a Baum not exceeding 52, which consists in passing oil and Water in liquidform into a retort, converting the oil and Water into vapor, and leading off the vapor to a condenser, the terminal of which is closed to create a back pressure against the vapor, thereby condensing the vapor under a presproducts of petroleum, which c0n'- sure of from three to five atmospheres maintained throughout distillation and condensa: tion.

4. The process of transforming petroleum oils of a Baum of 26 to 48 into a product of a Baum not exceeding 52, Which consists in passing oil and Water in liquid form into a retort, converting the oil and Water into vapor by subjecting them to 600 F. to 950 F., and leading off the vapor to a condenser, the terminal of which is closed to create a back pressure against the vapor,

thereby condensing the vapor under a pres sure of from three to five atmospheres maintained throughout distillation and condensation.

CHARLES H. WASHBURN. In the presence of-- M. FALVEY, E. LINN. 

